Ascension Benefits & Insurance and Minneapolis-based Bloom Health have launched a new a private exchange, BenXchange by Ascension that enables clients offer employees an online benefits marketplace for tailored benefits.

Leveraging the new exchange, employees can select from insurance carriers and ancillary products, and make their own health benefit purchasing decisions.

Bloom Health’s decision-support tools help choose products from a wider range and get the personalized.

Using BenXchange by Ascension, employers can implement a defined contribution plan to deliver personalized benefits in a group market setting, while getting better cost predictability, the companies said.

Ascension chief strategy officer Nicole Jones-Gyllstrom said, "Bloom Health’s platform is the best fit to complement our existing range of employee benefit consulting and brokerage services."

Bloom Health CEO Simeon Schindelman added, "The consultative expertise Ascension brings provides predictability and choice to the health insurance equation, two features that are essential in today’s marketplace."

Ascension Insurance and its affiliates provide specialized benefits and risk management brokerage and consulting services.